DESCRIPTION (Adapted from the applicants abstract): The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS), Incarnate Word College (IWC), and the University of Texas Pan American (UTPANAM) propose to continue their cooperative progressive graduate program for underrepresented minorities. The program will provide activities to support students in pursuit of their MS in Biology at IWC and UTPANAM and their Ph.D. at GSBS. The goal is to increase the number of underrepresented minorities that enter a biomedical research career. The specific aims are to increase the academic competitiveness of the students during their Master's degree training, facilitate their entry into a Ph.D. program and assist IWC and UTPANAM to enhance and further develop their research and curricula. Activities include: 1) admission to a Master's program at IWC or UTPANAM with provisional admission to the GSBS, 2) the opportunity of a summer research experience at GSBS with a faculty mentor with research interest in the area of the student's thesis, 3) appointment of the GSBS faculty mentor to the student's supervising committee, 4) admission to a Ph.D. program at the GSBS, 5) opportunities for the IWC and UTPANAM faculty to work with GSBS faculty for further research training, development of cooperative research activities and assittance in obtaining grants, and 6) presentation of seminars, lectures, workshops by faculty from the three institutions.